Monday, May 6, 2024

BASIC FRENCH


 Here's some basic public notice vocabulary for adventurous new learners of the French language.
Private property, forbidden to enter, and mean dog. In that order.

Vocabulary
prorpiété privée:  private property
défense d'entrer:  forbidden to enter
chien méchant:  mean or vicious dog

©2024 P. B. Lecron

Sunday, May 5, 2024

COUNTRY CHARM PAR EXCELLENCE



 Le Re de Gally, a stream of 22 kilometers, flows through 13 communes in the geographically designated Plaine de Versailles.  And guess where its source is? In the park of the Château de Versailles, between the Grand Canal and the park of the Grand-Trianon. This bucolic view is from a Sunday promenade in the charming village of Rennemoulin.

©2024 P. B. Lecron

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

LITTLE DARLINGS


 Scattered, wide-open dwarf tulips, known as Melodie d'Amour, would give any onlooker tulip mania! 
Seen at the Parc Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris.

Vocabulary
la manie de tulipes:  tulip mania

©2024 P. B. Lecron

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

A COLD SNAP


                            Intense colors of these early spring flowers, jacinthes et narcisses, lift spirits during this week's cold snap in the Parisian area. Un coup de froid.


Speaking of cold snaps, get cosy with a children's bedtime story that my French daughter wrote, Le Lapin à la recherche du Printemps. Reading children's stories in a foreign language is an excellent way to boost linguistic skills because they are easy to understand, and like this one, fully illustrated. A mysterious and late snowfall leads Papa Lapin on an adventure full of ups and downs to save springtime. Available in French or English on worldwide Amazon sites. Click here to discover!

Below, an illustration from Le Lapin à la recherche du Printemps, by Marianne Lecron, illustrated by P. B. Lecron. All rights reserved.




















©2024 P. B. Lecron



Monday, March 25, 2024

A FRENCH CHILDREN'S STORY


 If you or your family enjoyed reading my daughter's children's book, Le Lapin et la Lune, you will certainly like this story, Le Lapin à la recherche du Printemps
Thirty-one pages, distilling to a child's level character traits such as determination and initiative, demonstrate that encouragement and optimism can and do prevail. Fully illustrated with original aquarelles and available in either French or English on Amazon sites worldwide.
Click here to preview.


©2024 P. B. Lecron




 

Friday, March 22, 2024

POCKET PARADISE


 Not far from the city of Vanne is this pocket of paradise, or as I would liberally translate, un paradis de poche--and an idyllic venue for a wedding reception. A sequoia and stand of palm trees guarantee a dépaysement on the grounds of the Domaine du Plessis Kaër, Crac'h, which is bordered by the Rivière d'Auray in the microclimate near the Golfe du Morbihan in French Brittany. 

Vocabulary
un dépaysement:  a change of scenery

©2024 P. B. Lecron

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

FASCINATION


 Expand your French vocabulary as easily as the peacock fans open his tail by using cognates, or vrais amis--words in French and English that are spelled nearly or exactly the same, and have the same meaning, like fascination. There are hundreds of them!
photo courtesy of Patrick Lecron

Vocabulary

ardent: ardent
persévérance: perseverance
arrogance: arrogance
animal: animal
elegance: elegance
visible:  visible
patience: patience
impatience: impatience
admirable: admirable
brillance: brillance
romantique: romantic
vibrant: vibrant

©2024 P. B. Lecron

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

WITH AN EYE ON THE PEACOCK

L'oeil de paon
 Close up of a peacock's tail just after it shifted from blue-green to an elusive or insaissable copper.
Photo taken at the Parc Bagatelle, Paris

©2024 P. B. Lecron

Friday, January 26, 2024

SHIFTING COLORS

True to its name
La Côte d'Opale
France's Opal Coast is just that--opalescent.
It's shifting colors run along 90 kilometers of coastline in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
The photo above was taken in the town of Cucq Trépied Stella Plage.


©2024 P. B. Lecron